Egyptair Keen On Getting Transit Traffic From India

Egyptair has its eyes firmly set on India as it increases its presence in the country and hopes to lure more passengers (both point-to-point and transit). The airline, which flies daily between Mumbai and Cairo, recently also started operating from New Delhi. Given the number of passengers from India flying to the West, the flag carrier sees plenty of opportunities for gaining transit traffic and potential codeshare partnerships.

Expanding in India

Egyptair has added one more connection from India by recently launching a service from New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL). The airline operates four weekly flights between Delhi and Cairo using one of its Airbus A320neo aircraft in a two-class configuration.

The airline operates daily out of Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (BOM), where it uses a different equipment – a Boeing 737. According to Cirium, Egyptair has 62 return flights between Cairo and Mumbai, offering 9,548 seats in August. Between Delhi and Cairo, it is offering 33 return flights with a total of 4,686 seats.

Photo: Airbus

According to the data provided by India’s aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Egypair flew almost 22,000 passengers between Mumbai and Cairo in the quarter ending March 2023.

Codeshare opportunities and transit traffic

After covering India’s two biggest airports, Egyptair is keen to explore codeshare partnerships with airlines. Capt. Mohamed Moussa, Egyptair’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, spoke with Mint about the possibility of connecting Indian passengers to other destinations via Egypt, such as those in mid-Africa and West Africa. He said that the next step will be codeshare partnership with Indian airlines. The report also quotes the airline’s country manager, Amr Ali, as saying,

“After recovery from covid, many people are now keen and have huge need to travel. As Egypt Air has a very good connectivity network with hub in Cairo, we see here in India a very big potential to catch traffic from India to Cairo and beyond Cairo to our network destinations in Africa, North America and Europe.”

Photo: Dirk Daniel Mann | Shutterstock

When asked about competition with other Indian airlines, such as Air India and IndiGo, Ali explained that he hopes the two airlines cooperate for mutual benefits. Regarding IndiGo, Ali said that Egyptair and IndiGo operate different routes and offer different products. He highlighted that Egyptair is a full-service airline, with special meals catered to Indians, possibly giving it an edge over its competitors.

Network growth

Egyptair is also busy expanding to other global destinations, having recently launched flights to Manchester, its second destination in the UK after London Heathrow. It flies five times weekly to Manchester using its Boeing 737 aircraft.

In July, the airline also announced that it will return to Japan in September with flights to Tokyo Narita International Airport (NRT) after a three-year hiatus. It added that the service between Cairo and Tokyo will start on September 12th using its Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.

Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

Egyptair will also boost its regional operations in September when it will start flying to Libya’s Misrata International Airport (MRA) from Cairo. Clearly, the carrier is making the most of the rise in travel demand after the pandemic.

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Source: Mint